Keep Bailing

Costly Renovations Proposed for Pitchess Detention Center and Men’s Central Jail.

Our Inside California Jails Series…
The LA County Board of Supervisors has been asked to approve a proposal which would allocate $1,4 billion to renovate two LA County jails.   The improvements outlined in the plan would include the modernization of the downtown Men’s Central Jail as well as the addition of 400 bets to Pitchess Detention Center.

Proponents of the plan say that spending the money now would equate to long-term cost savings to the county.  Opponents, however, point to the weak economy and question whether taking on such a marked expense is prudent at the current time.

Greg Rynerson Bail Bonds continues with our twelfth series in our California Jails: Inside the Los Angeles County Jails.

Here, we’ll fill you in on:

• How California’s Prison Realignment Plan Could Read more »

Fox Los Angeles reported  that Los Angeles Sheriff Lee Baca has a new jail plan. If approved by the County Board of Supervisors, the $1.4 billion plan would allow for the demolition and rebuilding of the downtown Men’s Central Jail and would also allow for a new, women’s jail to be constructed at Pitchess Detention Center.

The proposal comes amidst staunch allegations of inmate abuse by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) . County officials believe that prison populations could be better managed should construction plans be approved.

Baca told Fox that the Los Angeles Men’s Central Jail is antiquated and if the new facility is approved it could reduce annual operation costs by approximately $23.7 million. The current facility, which houses about 5,000 inmates, was built in 1963.

Baca further noted the new facilities would allow Read more »

Los Angeles jail officials and staff are planning to test out a new form of technology produced by the military as a weapon at the LA County Castaic Jail. This innovative tool is an invisible beam of heat that will produce “intolerable heat” to those whom it is beamed on.

The heat-beam is officially known as an Assault Intervention Device developed by Raytheon Company. It is said to be harmless and the one inside the L.A. jail is scaled down considerably.

The device works by emitting a beam, focused on the wave of energy that is traveling at the speed of light to produce an intolerable heat sensation that advertently will cause those in it’s line of fire to move. Once the individual has moved away from the beam, all heat sensations cease to exist.

Jail officials and deputies have tested this device and it is all controlled by a single joystick. According to Sheriff Lee Baca, “We Read more »

CASTAIC, CA — 20 inmates along with 2 deputies were treated for minor injuries, when a widespread scuffle broke out at the Castaic, Pitchess Detention Center South Jail at approximately 2:30 p.m. on Sunday afternoon.

At least 200 inmates threw rocks and other items at Sheriff deputies, forcing them to retreat. They also vandalized the barracks at the facility. According to L.A. County spokesman Steve Whitmore, what sparked the fracas is still unclear.

To break things up, non-lethal stinger rounds were shot Read more »

Two Los Angeles County jail maximum security inmates were captured on Wednesday after escaping from the Castaic jail, where they were being held for several armed robberies.  Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies said Winder Barrios and Jose Aldana were taken into custody without incident about a half a mile from the jail.

They had been reportedly missing for about 14 hours from the North County Correctional Facility.  Residents reported there were two men asking people to give them clothes.  Barrios and Aldana were found in a storage container nearby.

Both men were working on a jail loading dock Read more »

Redmond O’Neal, son of the late Charlie’s Angels actress Farrah Fawcett and film actor Ryan O’Neal, was returned to jail after violating his probation for a series of drug offenses.

According to the Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Tynan sentenced O’Neal to a 30-day, in-custody drug-treatment program thanks to his inability to stay clean.  O’Neal remains in jail without bail pending a February 2nd hearing.

Judge Tynan warned Redmond that he would go to state prison for six years if he violated his probation, back in November. “It actually strikes me that you haven’t got a clue as to what recovery means. It is a lifelong commitment and it’s grinding, hard, painful work,” Tynan told O’Neal. “You’ve got one responsibility and that’s to yourself — to get clean and sober.”

O’Neal was on a 24 hour pass from a rehab center – his first since Read more »